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Are you prepared for emergencies? September is National Preparedness Month.

All Americans are encouraged to “Be Informed, Make a Plan, Build a Kit, and Get Involved” for disaster preparation. Resources and guidelines on how to do this can be found at Ready.gov/MyPlan.

Be Informed First, you need to be informed about potential emergencies and disasters where you live, work, or visit. Then, you can go about making a plan that fits you and your loved ones.

Make a Plan Making a family emergency communication plan with your friends and family before a disaster occurs is important. Why? Because it will help you answer questions: how will you get in touch with each other? How will your family get to a safe place? It’s important to make a plan now so that you will know where to meet, how to find each other following a disaster, and how to communicate in an emergency that works for your family’s specific communication needs.

Build a Kit While each person’s abilities and needs vary, everyone can take steps to prepare for all types of emergencies. By evaluating your own individual needs and making an emergency plan that ﬁts those needs, you and your loved ones can be better prepared. For example, if being without access to medications, help, or other services you need to maintain your health, safety and independence for even a couple of hours or days could be devastating, and you need to be prepared more than ever.

Get Involved People with disabilities are encouraged to take a seat at their community and local government- level planning tables. Planning for emergencies and disasters with people who have disabilities and others with access and functional needs rather than planning for them will allow us to understand and address the needs of the whole community in a disaster.

To get more information on how to make a family emergency communication plan, build a disaster supply kit or to learn how to get involved in community preparedness, please visit Ready.gov/MyPlan.

Resources about natural disasters in your area: Ready.gov/Prepare has information about natural disasters including Hurricanes, Floods, Earthquakes, Tornados, Wildfires and Winter Storms as well as tips about how to prepare.